Equal Pay

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protect workers against wage discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits unequal pay to men and women who perform the same job. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits wage discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. Forty years after the passage of these ground-breaking laws, women still earn less than their male counterparts. In 2009, women earned only 77 cents for every dollar men received.

Equal pay is an important economic security issue for women and their families. With a large percentage of women in the labor force, and a large share of the total household income earned by women, pay inequity leaves women with less income to pay for life’s necessities, including health care, housing, childcare, and groceries. It also results in lower Social Security benefits for women when they retire.

YWCA Position

The YWCA supports initiatives to increase the income of women, including policies that raise the minimum wage, protect overtime, strengthen equal pay, maintain the earned income tax credit, oppose the privatization of Social Security, and expand non-traditional training for women from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.